Wednesday June 6th 2018 - Harz mountains

Wednesday we went back to the Harz mountains. It was a lovely journey. We stopped first in Wernigerode. We had planned to go to the castle but there is no parking there and we would have had to take a train or horsedrawn carriage. It was all going to take too much time so we decided to give it a miss and just explore the town which is having a lot of renovations done – like everywhere! We saw the leaning house and the smallest house. 

Elwedritsch Mother in Wernigerode.
An Elwedritsch is a birdlike mythical creature associated with this part of Germany.

An Elwedritsch chick hatching.

The Brocken is the highest and most famous mountain in the Harz. It can only be reached by taking the steam train from Wernigerode or by walking. We did neither! The Brocken was long believed to be a meeting point for witches. Wernigerode keeps its visitors well aware of witches!

Fountain at Nicolaiplatz in Wernigerode.

Close up of the figures below.

Part of the fountain at Nicolaiplatz.

Fountain in Market Square.

There were 2 weddings in Wernigerode while we were there. In this one the bride wore black - rather unusual I thought. The previous one celebrated when they left the Rathaus by opening a magnum of champagne and serving it tyo the small group in plastic cups!

I liked his ruffles!

Kathleen Meier, puppeteer

Giant snail sculpture.

This is the smallest house in Wernigerode.

The Rast (Rest) on Kochstrasse.

Then we went on to Quedlinburg where we thought we would see its castle. However, there was an important ministerial meeting on there and we were not allowed to go there. The town, however, is very nice and we had a nice lunch there.

Fountain in the Corn Market, Quedlinburg.

Statue of a youth gardener to depict the importance of Quedlinburg in flower and seed breeding.

This is Blasikirche (The Church of St. Blaise). The altar is beautiful and has an integrated pulpit.

Jim and I played hide and seek in the gallery.

A statue to the Munzenberg musician in the Market Square.

This is a tall sandstone statue of Roland in his armour, the sword straight up in his right hand, a shield in his left. Roland was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became a symbol of the growing independence of the growing cities from the local nobility. In front of the statue in the pavement is the coat of arms of the town.

Depiction of Roland again.

St. Nikolaikirche

A large force of police because of the meeting in the castle.

From Quedlinburg we went to Thale but it seems to be more a wintersports area. Then we made our way home.

Fountain at the witches playground, Thale.

Hexentanzplatz, Thale.